People have some good questions about how to use free recall to study. Here, I try to answer them.

0:00 Is one recall mode better than another?
1:21 What should the recall interval be?
2:20 Do I need to master the material first?
2:43 Which is better, encoding or retrieval?
4:03 Is free recall just vomiting out words?
4:57 Some further thoughts

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REFERENCES

On the differences between different modes of recall, see the three references below:

Janczyk, M., Aßmann, M., & Grabowski, J. (2018). Oral versus written recall of longterm memory items: Replicating and extending the writing superiority effect across knowledge domains. The American Journal of Psychology, 131(3), 263272. (Finding a written superiority effect)

Bekerian, D. A., & Dennett, J. L. (1990). Spoken and written recall of visual narratives. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 4(3), 175187. (spoken superiority)

Sauerland, M., Krix, A. C., van Kan, N., Glunz, S., & Sak, A. (2014). Speaking is silver, writing is golden? The role of cognitive and social factors in written versus spoken witness accounts. Memory & Cognition, 42, 978992. (favoring written, but not finding large differences; in the eyewitness area)

For a wonderful summary of how tests effect learning, check out: Roediger III, H. L., Putnam, A. L., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Ten Benefits of Testing and Their Applications to Educational Practice. In Psychology of Learning and Motivation (Vol. 55, pp. 1–36). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978012387...

On test expectancy effects (how expecting a test influences encoding), see: McDaniel, M. A., Blischak, D. M., & Challis, B. (1994). The effects of test expectancy on processing and memory of prose. Contemporary educational psychology, 19(2), 230248.